Nestled in a valley between two striking, arid mountains, Mount Jarzim and Mount Etal, Nablus is very much the nerve centre of the upper West Bank. This beautiful, ancient city – known as the uncrowned Queen of Palestine – is heaving with life, but not yet with tourism. Its most famous exports are olive oil, soap, cotton and carob.

Flavia Neapolis ("new city of the emperor Flavius") was named in 72 CE by the Roman emperor Vespasian and applied to an older Samaritan village, variously called Mabartha ("the passage") or Mamorpha. Holy places at the site of the city's founding include Joseph's Tomb and Jacob's Well. Due to the city's strategic geographic position and the abundance of water from nearby springs, Neapolis prospered.

Neapolis, along with most of Palestine, was conquered by the Muslims under Khalid ibn al-Walid, a general of the Rashidun army of Umar ibn al-Khattab, in 636 after the Battle of Yarmouk. The city's name was retained in its Arabicized form, Nablus. The town prevailed as an important trade centre during the centuries of Islamic Arab rule under the Umayyad, Abbasid and Fatimid dynasties. Under Muslim rule, Nablus contained a diverse population of Arabs and Persians, Muslims, Samaritans, Christians and Jews. The city was captured by Crusaders in 1099, under the command of Prince Tancred, and renamed Naples. Though the Crusaders extorted many supplies from the population for their troops who were en route to Jerusalem, they did not sack the city, presumably because of the large Christian population there. Crusader rule came to an end in 1187, when the Ayyubids led by Saladin captured the city. The Mamluk dynasty gained control of Nablus in 1260 and during their reign, they built numerous mosques and schools. Under Mamluk rule, Nablus possessed running water, many Turkish baths and exported olive oil and soap to Egypt, Syria, the Hejaz, several Mediterranean islands, and the Arabian Desert. The city's olive oil was also used in the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus. Ibn Battuta, the Arab explorer, visited Nablus in 1355, and described it as a city "full of trees and streams and full of olives." He noted that the city grew and exported carob jam to Cairo and Damascus.

Nablus came under the rule of the Ottoman Empire in 1517, along with the whole of Palestine. In 1831–32 Khedivate Egypt, then led by Muhammad Ali, conquered Palestine from the Ottomans. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, Nablus was the principal trade and manufacturing centre in Ottoman Syria. Next came the British Occupation and rule by Jordan. In 1967 Israel occupied the West Bank, including Nablus. Jurisdiction over the city was handed over to the Palestinian National Authority on December 12, 1995, as a result of the Oslo Accords Interim Agreement on the West Bank.

Historical Locations :

Jacob's Well The spot where it is believed that a Samaritan woman offered a drink from the well to Jesus and he then revealed to her that he was the Messiah (John 4:5), is located here. All Western monotheistic religions also believe this to be a site where Jacob camped during his travels, hence the name. A Greek Orthodox Church is located on the site.
Mt Gerizim The top of the mountain hosts the community of "Kiryat Luza", one of the only two Samaritan communities left in the world. Genetic studies have made the hypothesis that much of Nablus' Palestinian population are originally Samaritan who converted to Islam at the time of the Muslim conquest of the Holy Land.
Joseph's Tomb Located in the eastern part of the city is a Muslim and Jewish holy site. As such, it is gated and guarded by Palestinian Authority officers.
Tell Balata Archaeological Park,  Tell Balata archaeological site, near Nablus, the site contains the remains of a Middle Bronze Age city with a massive fortification wall (ca. 1650-1450 BC), two impressive gates and a fortress temple. Evidence shows that Tell Balata was first settled in the Chalcolithic period (c.4000- 3500 BC) and developed into a city during the Middle and Late Bronze Age. The site is being developed by a joint Palestinian-Dutch effort, in cooperation with UNESCO,
Sebastia Archaeological Park,  The ancient ruins of Samaria-Sebaste are located just above the built up area of the modern day village on the eastern slope of the hill The ruins dominate the hillside and comprise remains from six successive cultures dating back 10,000 years: Canaanite, Israelite, Hellenistic, Herodian, Roman and Byzantine. Also in the village of Sebastia is the alleged tomb of John the Baptist pronounced "Maqam an Nabi Yahya" in Arabic. Also in St. John's tomb are the tombs of the Biblical figures Elisha and Obadiah
Awarta village, Present in the town is the burial ground for the family of the Biblical character of Aaron (notably the tombs of: Ithamar, Eleazar, Phinehas, Abishua, and seventy tombs for the Biblical Seventy Elders (Sanhedrin). There is also a Muslim monument that is claimed to be the Tomb of Ezra the Scribe
Kifl Hares, Kifl Hares contains the Tombs of the Biblical figures Joshua, Caleb, and Nun